Solomon singles out Strzok text implicating Obama WH, prepare for ‘evidence’ in next phase of probes

John Solomon, investigative columnist and executive vice president for The Hill, said on Fox News’ Hannity last night that he fully expects evidence to come out as early as next week showing that spying on the Trump campaign began in January 2016 and that it was run directly from the Obama White House.

The explosive implication is obvious.

Sean Hannity asked Solomon, “I want to ask you about what Obama’s White House’s involvement in this probe is. We saw Page and Strzok point directly to Lynch’s office, and I want to know what she knew and when she knew it. And I want to know what Obama knew, and Rice knew, and Clapper knew, and Brennan knew.”

“I think it’s such an important question and it’s gotten lost for much of the last two years as we’ve debated all the narratives that turned out not to be true,” Solomon said.

“One text message has always stuck out in my mind,” he said. “… And that is the text message from Peter Strzok to Lisa Page after coming out of one of the meetings … and the text says, ‘The White House is running this.’

“I covered law enforcement for 30 years. The White House does not normally run counterintelligence for Justice Department investigations. That text remained in my head for a long time. And over the last few weeks I’ve been reporting, I think Victoria in the last segment had something really important. She said January 1, 2017, there was at least one White House meeting.

“I think next week we’ll be talking about a meeting one year earlier where the origins of the Trump collusion case begin. A whole year earlier. And I guarantee you, it will have been inside the White House. … January 2016, the beginning of Donald Trump’s …”

Hannity pointed out, “We know the FBI began July 31, 2016.”

“I’m going to say six months before, the effort to get Trump was launched and I think next week we’ll be talking about some pretty interesting evidence,” said Solomon.

He continued, “This had to start somewhere and a lot of resources had to be put into it. Who did it? What did they do? What did they know? What did they keep from the court?”

He referred to his April 17 column in The Hill. “There are so many questions. I interviewed so many people that are working in the IG (Inspector General) probe, the Senate Judiciary Probe, around Attorney General Barr.

Solomon offered, “I think it’s going to be a very difficult time for the investigators, particularly those who led the FBI, who made Christopher Steele look more trustworthy than he was.”

“… a very important second phase of this drama is about to begin, as Attorney General William Barr, Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General Michael Horowitz and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) put the Russia collusion investigators under investigation.

Their work will be, and must be, far more than just a political boomerang.

It must answer, in balanced terms, whether the FBI was warranted in using the most awesome powers in the U.S. intelligence arsenal to spy on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign at the end of the 2016 election.